Pacific photographs from the Vanadis expedition, 1883–85

Abstract

The Vanadis expedition was a Swedish–Norwegian scientific and trade mission that circumnavigated the globe between 1883 and 1885. The scientific aspect of the expedition focused on the collection of objects, archaeological excavations and the documentation of the peoples, places and material culture encountered on the voyage. Responsible for much of this collecting and documentation was ethnographer Hjalmar Stolpe, as well as photographer Oscar Birger Ekholm. An estimated 7500 objects from the Vanadis expedition today form part of Etnografiska museet (The Museum of Ethnography) collections in Stockholm, over 900 of which came from the Pacific. These were acquired/purchased from Indigenous and western residents in all places the ship stopped including the Society Islands, Marquesas Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, Hawaiian Islands and Marshall Islands. Of the roughly 700 photographs taken during the voyage, just over 200 were taken in the Pacific. Ekholm’s photographic record from the Pacific includes studies of people and portraits, land and seascapes, archaeological sites, dwellings and marine transportation. Providing an overview of Ekholm’s photographs from the Vanadis expedition, this article seeks to contextualize his photography, situating it within the wider context of collecting with which he and Stolpe were concerned. It will further consider the racial stereotypes, interest in practices such as tattooing and overall aims of the expedition that prompted this photographic documentation.